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The trial ; and, Metamorphosis: Two theatre adaptations from Franz Kafka
Paperback in very good condition. Covers are scuffed and sunned. Edges and corners are slightly bumped and rubbed. Page block is lightly blemished. Binding is sound and pages are clear. LW
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First published April 1, 1981
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About the author
Steven Berkoff
69 books10 followersSteven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director.Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt. Col Podovsky in Rambo: First Blood Part II, Victor Maitland in Beverly Hills Cop, and Adolf Hitler in epic mini-series War and Remembrance.
His earliest plays are adaptations of works by Franz Kafka: The Metamorphosis (1969); In the Penal Colony (1969); and The Trial (1971); these complex psychological plays are said to be nightmarish and to create a disturbing sense of alienation in their audiences. In the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote a series of verse plays including: East (1975); Greek (1980); Decadence (1981); West (1983); Sink the Belgrano! (1986); Massage (1997); Sturm und Drang; and The Secret Love Life of Ophelia (2001). East, Greek and West were punk-inspired works about working class London youth based on Oedipus and Beowulf respectively.
Berkoff employs a style of heightened physical theatre known as "total theatre". Drama critic Aleks Sierz describes his Berkoff's dramatic style as "in yer face": "the language is usually filthy, characters talk about unmentionable subjects, take their clothes off, have sex, humiliate each another, experience unpleasant emotions, become suddenly violent. At its best, this kind of theatre is so powerful, so visceral, that it forces audiences to react: either they feel like fleeing the building or they are suddenly convinced that it is the best thing they have ever seen, and want all their friends to see it too. It is the kind of theatre that inspires us to use superlatives, whether in praise or condemnation."
According to Annette Pankratz, in her 2005 Modern Drama review of Steven Berkoff and the Theatre of Self-Performance, by Robert Cross, "Steven Berkoff is one of the major minor contemporary dramatists in Britain and – due to his self-fashioning as a bad boy of British theatre and the ensuing attention of the media – a phenomenon in his own right."
"I'm scared of Steven Berkoff" is a line in the lyrics of "I'm Scared" (1992), by Queen's guitarist Brian May, released on his first solo album Back to the Light (1993). Brian May has declared himself as a great admirer of Berkoff.
The Berkoff Performing Arts Centre was named for him at Alton College, in North East Hampshire on 20 June 2008.
His earliest plays are adaptations of works by Franz Kafka: The Metamorphosis (1969); In the Penal Colony (1969); and The Trial (1971); these complex psychological plays are said to be nightmarish and to create a disturbing sense of alienation in their audiences. In the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote a series of verse plays including: East (1975); Greek (1980); Decadence (1981); West (1983); Sink the Belgrano! (1986); Massage (1997); Sturm und Drang; and The Secret Love Life of Ophelia (2001). East, Greek and West were punk-inspired works about working class London youth based on Oedipus and Beowulf respectively.
Berkoff employs a style of heightened physical theatre known as "total theatre". Drama critic Aleks Sierz describes his Berkoff's dramatic style as "in yer face": "the language is usually filthy, characters talk about unmentionable subjects, take their clothes off, have sex, humiliate each another, experience unpleasant emotions, become suddenly violent. At its best, this kind of theatre is so powerful, so visceral, that it forces audiences to react: either they feel like fleeing the building or they are suddenly convinced that it is the best thing they have ever seen, and want all their friends to see it too. It is the kind of theatre that inspires us to use superlatives, whether in praise or condemnation."
According to Annette Pankratz, in her 2005 Modern Drama review of Steven Berkoff and the Theatre of Self-Performance, by Robert Cross, "Steven Berkoff is one of the major minor contemporary dramatists in Britain and – due to his self-fashioning as a bad boy of British theatre and the ensuing attention of the media – a phenomenon in his own right."
"I'm scared of Steven Berkoff" is a line in the lyrics of "I'm Scared" (1992), by Queen's guitarist Brian May, released on his first solo album Back to the Light (1993). Brian May has declared himself as a great admirer of Berkoff.
The Berkoff Performing Arts Centre was named for him at Alton College, in North East Hampshire on 20 June 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 3, 2023
Metamorphosis is the original would you still love me if I was a worm
March 18, 2013
I actually managed to be in a production of The Trial and it was brilliant! I played Narrator, Guard 2 and Huld. I love Berkoffs work there are so many ways to explore it!
April 12, 2024
HULD: You need me, K. You need me.
[He shits. The CLIENTS clear it up with a shovel and wipe his ass.]
[He shits. The CLIENTS clear it up with a shovel and wipe his ass.]
June 24, 2013
For this book I'm going to do individual reviews for each play.
The Trial: A difficult read as it took me awhile to get used to all the different voices and direct speech while some of the parts jump over each other and are not really necessary. One of the more dense adaptations of Kafka.
Metamorphosis: To me, this is Kafka's finest work. Expressing the sorrows of his personal life and other lives around him at the time he was writing, his story of a boy that randomly turns into a beetle is easy to relate to (metaphorically obviously) and to put onstage.
The Penal Colony: A short near duologue, save for two sentences by the guard at the end, about an Officer trying to impress an Explorer with a torture machine and persuade him to keep it. Although nothing much happens there is some great dialogue to keep you interested and it is the shortest out of the three plays. I finished reminded of Waiting For Godot slightly, if it was set in Germany and they were discussing torture methods, morals and politics. Would be very interesting to see performed.
To conclude Berkoff does well with his adaptations of Kafka's work, using his own style of theatre and direction to bring the stories to the stage.
The Trial: A difficult read as it took me awhile to get used to all the different voices and direct speech while some of the parts jump over each other and are not really necessary. One of the more dense adaptations of Kafka.
Metamorphosis: To me, this is Kafka's finest work. Expressing the sorrows of his personal life and other lives around him at the time he was writing, his story of a boy that randomly turns into a beetle is easy to relate to (metaphorically obviously) and to put onstage.
The Penal Colony: A short near duologue, save for two sentences by the guard at the end, about an Officer trying to impress an Explorer with a torture machine and persuade him to keep it. Although nothing much happens there is some great dialogue to keep you interested and it is the shortest out of the three plays. I finished reminded of Waiting For Godot slightly, if it was set in Germany and they were discussing torture methods, morals and politics. Would be very interesting to see performed.
To conclude Berkoff does well with his adaptations of Kafka's work, using his own style of theatre and direction to bring the stories to the stage.
February 7, 2025
The Trial *** -- This is a thought-provoking stage adaptation of Kafka’s novel. In addition to the primary characters, Berkoff has “voices” and a “chorus” to help provide Joseph’s inner monologue and various plot details. The play moves fairly closely along the lines of Kafka’s novel. I thought the ending, however, with its changes, didn’t fully capture Joseph’s sense of resignation to his “sentence.” The play also didn’t fully display the emptiness inside of Joseph – the cold self-absorption, the inability to love, the inability to justify his own life. While an interesting take on a fascinating novel, I wouldn’t describe this as must-read. Those who enjoy Kafka, like myself, would find this an interesting interpretation.
In the Penal Colony *** -- As the playwright notes in the preface, this play closely follows the short story. And what a story it is. I’m not sure if a play can – or ever could – capture the unique horror and insanity on the stage. Berkoff does an admirable job however. As an admirer of this short story, I enjoyed the play.
In the Penal Colony *** -- As the playwright notes in the preface, this play closely follows the short story. And what a story it is. I’m not sure if a play can – or ever could – capture the unique horror and insanity on the stage. Berkoff does an admirable job however. As an admirer of this short story, I enjoyed the play.
January 2, 2018
Existiram muitas mudanças em relação a história original do processo de Kafka, algumas delas foram ótimas, por exemplo, gostei da interpretação que foi feita dentro da peça sobre a conversa do padre com Joseph K. No original, a conversa toda só aparece no último capítulo, mas na peça, uma parte dela (a parábola sobre o guardião da porta) está no início, e outra parte, ou seja, a interpretação da parábola contada, no final do último ato. O que fechou muito bem a peça.
Gostei também da forma que o cenário foi organizado, todo ele girava/mudava ao redor de K, recriando o estado físico e mental do personagem, o que transmite para o teatro o tom da narrativa da obra original de Kafka.
Gostei também da forma que o cenário foi organizado, todo ele girava/mudava ao redor de K, recriando o estado físico e mental do personagem, o que transmite para o teatro o tom da narrativa da obra original de Kafka.
September 1, 2019
Having seen Berkoff's adaptations of Kafka's The Trial and Metamorphosis and being a fan of Kafka's works (I've seen the Philip Glass opera of The Trial too) it was interesting to read these scripts. Berkoff presents his own unique in depth interpretation of the books for stage production, which don't detract from the original but add more substance. Also interesting to read Berkoff's comments on each piece.
June 22, 2020
I like this book, The Trial is my favourite of the three. Down a star because Metamorphosis is my stimulus for A Level Theatre Studies devised and its a wind up. Can’t easily explain this but the whole class would agree, ask them yourself. Yeah, it’s a bit confusing at times when I overthink it, but I feel kinda bad for Greta. Bit of a mad one but that’s why it’s a good play and good stimulus I guess.
January 11, 2024
I'm a big fan of Kafka's stories, and two big players in adaptations are of course Brecht and Berkoff each with their own way of telling some of the strangest stories in contemporary fiction. It was very fun to revisit these scripts and relive the stories told through stage. Of course scripts aren't everyones idea of reading but it was a great collection.
July 26, 2019
Berkoff gets it man. I find theatrical adaptions tend to get a bit on the nose, and this is no different, but somehow with Metamorphosis it works in just the right way. Maybe it's the actor in me, but this is just that bit better than the book.
March 12, 2017
Review to appear shortly.
February 22, 2021
Kafka is, of course, fantastic but these adaptations...more like Steven Jerkoff.
September 26, 2022
*only read metamorphosis
July 31, 2023
i have to read some strange shit for drama
August 24, 2023
I hate this.
September 3, 2024
read for a level drama god knows what I’ve just read tbh
September 13, 2024
Why am I reading a play, written by a guy that tried to drill a hole in his head?
April 2, 2020
Berkoff takes Kafka and adapts it to the stage. The three pieces presented here are wildly different in staging and Berkoff clearly had a flair for mounting productions in different ways. He also picked the three most visceral Kafka works for this volume so there is a lot to dissect.
The Trial is the story that, more than anything else, gives us the term 'Kafkaesque.' A man is put on trial in an uncaring machine-like system that ultimately kills him even as he passes through faces of ardent defense, defiance, and acceptance. The script utilizes a greek chorus in a way that I don't think is entirely successful but does allow for the show to move locations quickly with characters coming in and out of the chorus. The play does change the ending of the script but envisioning the ending as written here is powerful. The company slowly tightens a rope that has been run around the play space until it become a noose around Joseph K's neck. "Like a dog" indeed.
Metamorphosis is probably Kafka's most famous work even being lampooned in a single line of Mel Brooks's The Producers. Gregor Samsa awakens one morning to find he has been transformed into a gigantic insect. The play uses a lot of movement work to suggest the transformation but Gregor does not have an absurd costume nor does it resort to a puppet. Gregor is still human in his mind and has a wide range of emotions that the dramatic format allows to be on full display. We also get a lot of insight into his sister, the only one who stays loyal to him until, at last, she bitterly breaks away. The show uses a lot of metaphor and the suggested staging is of a set that is an abstract sculpture of a beetle. I think this works better than The Trial and having Gregor's thoughts vocalized could be very effective and the way that it handles Gregor's transformation has the potential to elicit pity even if the premise seems laughable.
The final piece is a short version of In The Penal Colony. Another piece about a broken justice system. The bulk of the story is of a penal colony officer gleefully explaining the workings of a gruesome execution machine before being rebuffed by a visitor and then putting himself through the machine. The play initially looks like it'll be hopeful. That resistance to inhumane punishments will win out but the ending leaves that in doubt as a lowly guard picks up the officer's mantle with the implication that the cruelty will continue in perpetuity.
So, what's the point here? Kafka builds impenetrable worlds with heartless systemic machines that inflict cruelty with utter apathy toward the victims. While Joseph K isn't a good man, he hardly deserved execution. Gregor Samsa's sole crime seems to have been enabling the indolence of his parents. The explorer from in The Penal Colony helps to disrupt a corrupt system but doesn't finish the job and leaves us with the implication that it will continue. But, ultimately they all accept the system as it is. The Explorer doesn't really DO anything, just announces an intention to speak against the execution machine to the colony commandant. The Commandant, the man in charge of colony, already dislikes the manner of execution but refuses to halt it! Gregor's family, while vacillating between sympathy for him and antagonism, only moves on when they begin to resist their circumstances. Joseph K makes only half-handed attempts to upend the system, mounting no real resistance to it. I think Kafka demanded more than lukewarm resistance to the corrupt systems in our lives and shows us the results of complacency in his work.
The Trial is the story that, more than anything else, gives us the term 'Kafkaesque.' A man is put on trial in an uncaring machine-like system that ultimately kills him even as he passes through faces of ardent defense, defiance, and acceptance. The script utilizes a greek chorus in a way that I don't think is entirely successful but does allow for the show to move locations quickly with characters coming in and out of the chorus. The play does change the ending of the script but envisioning the ending as written here is powerful. The company slowly tightens a rope that has been run around the play space until it become a noose around Joseph K's neck. "Like a dog" indeed.
Metamorphosis is probably Kafka's most famous work even being lampooned in a single line of Mel Brooks's The Producers. Gregor Samsa awakens one morning to find he has been transformed into a gigantic insect. The play uses a lot of movement work to suggest the transformation but Gregor does not have an absurd costume nor does it resort to a puppet. Gregor is still human in his mind and has a wide range of emotions that the dramatic format allows to be on full display. We also get a lot of insight into his sister, the only one who stays loyal to him until, at last, she bitterly breaks away. The show uses a lot of metaphor and the suggested staging is of a set that is an abstract sculpture of a beetle. I think this works better than The Trial and having Gregor's thoughts vocalized could be very effective and the way that it handles Gregor's transformation has the potential to elicit pity even if the premise seems laughable.
The final piece is a short version of In The Penal Colony. Another piece about a broken justice system. The bulk of the story is of a penal colony officer gleefully explaining the workings of a gruesome execution machine before being rebuffed by a visitor and then putting himself through the machine. The play initially looks like it'll be hopeful. That resistance to inhumane punishments will win out but the ending leaves that in doubt as a lowly guard picks up the officer's mantle with the implication that the cruelty will continue in perpetuity.
So, what's the point here? Kafka builds impenetrable worlds with heartless systemic machines that inflict cruelty with utter apathy toward the victims. While Joseph K isn't a good man, he hardly deserved execution. Gregor Samsa's sole crime seems to have been enabling the indolence of his parents. The explorer from in The Penal Colony helps to disrupt a corrupt system but doesn't finish the job and leaves us with the implication that it will continue. But, ultimately they all accept the system as it is. The Explorer doesn't really DO anything, just announces an intention to speak against the execution machine to the colony commandant. The Commandant, the man in charge of colony, already dislikes the manner of execution but refuses to halt it! Gregor's family, while vacillating between sympathy for him and antagonism, only moves on when they begin to resist their circumstances. Joseph K makes only half-handed attempts to upend the system, mounting no real resistance to it. I think Kafka demanded more than lukewarm resistance to the corrupt systems in our lives and shows us the results of complacency in his work.
September 14, 2023
Only read Metamorphosis. I don't know how to feel.
December 17, 2013
My first introduction to Kafka and I feel like Berkoff has adapted the three selected works very well. Each one left my mind reeling and wanting more. The sparknotes for the Trial and Metamorphosis are particularly interesting and the shmoop page for In The Penal Colony (I liked the link to a possible religious analogy),
August 12, 2012
Brilliant. Theatrical. Disturbing.
Unfortunately in England explored to death by A level students as it has become mainstream standard. I can imagine Mr Berkoff sticking two fingers up to that.
Unfortunately in England explored to death by A level students as it has become mainstream standard. I can imagine Mr Berkoff sticking two fingers up to that.
March 6, 2014
Brilliant concept and intriguing to perform, the un naturalistic style is captivating
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews